HOW WRITING SHAPES COMMUNITIES

In a previous blog Writing About Writing 19/09/2013, the proponents of WAW posited a number of questions for the student, including:  How do communities shape writing?

On reflection, I should have commented at the time. The question should be: How does writing shape communities?

Theiss-More

Spinner-Halev

In my research today at the British Library, I perused an essay in a journal Perspective on Politics (2003, Vol 1, No. 3 pp515-532) by  Jeff Spinner-Halev and Elizabeth Theiss-Morse entitled  National Identity and Self-Esteem.

It questions whether the self-esteem, or self-respect (which the authors claim to use interchangeably) of individuals is tied to their nation? The authors suggest that “nationalism traces its political ascendency to the onset of industrialisation and the development of the printing press” (my italics)

Whilst it can be argued that nationalism began well before the industrial revolution, there is no doubt that a developing commercialism plays a significant part in establishing nations and the ‘writing’ that accompanied that progress was more than influential in shaping that progress. The printing press merely proliferated the power of writing, so much so, I would submit, that it created and shaped many of the communities that later made up nation states as we know them today.

Spinner-Haley and Theiss-Morse suggest that:

A state is a body that has a monopoly on the use of force over a particular territory, States are also institutionalised: they have police forces, armies, political institutions etc.

Nations may or may not be institutionalised. They can be split among states – e.g. North and South Korea, Germany and Austria,

–   * As to a general meaning of Nation – it is a limited political community, desires or has political recognition, has some territorial claims, and shares a collective identity.

–     * This community has a basis in history, language, culture or religion, or some combination of these elements

–    * Whether being a nation incudes aspiring to or having self rule, is open to argument, but a nations political goals can be more modest like having linguistic rights or having its history included in educational institutions.

     As to nationalism the authors quote Michael Hechter who categorises three kinds of nationalism:

-      1-  state building,

-      2- peripheral, and

-      3- unification.   

Hechter

State building nationalism tries to impose cultural homogeneity on citizens. There is an incentive for people to join the dominant culture group; if people want to move ahead economically or politically, they must know the dominant language or culture. This is not difficult for members of the majority group, but it presents a choice for members of minority nations. These members can choose to assimilate and become members of the dominant nation. Sometimes however, minority nationals resent the need to neglect their own language or culture in order to prosper.

When they do not assimilate, peripheral nationalism arises. as a distinct cultural group clamours for its own state or some sort of autonomy. Members of smaller groups may find assimilation the more realistic option, while larger groups have a better chance of resisting and surviving. Attempts at assimilation may be met with resistance from the dominant group, which will often cause resentment and be at least the partial cause of peripheral nationalism.

Unification nationalism occurs when one nation are scattered among different states. This happens for various reasons, but one important spur is the quest for power. The move to unite the different German States into one German nation state was an ‘exogenous shock – the Napoleonic conquest’ The best way for the German people to oppose France’s power was through unification. (I find this suggestion a bit iffy-Hitler’s obsession with the Versailles Treaty had more to do with events leading to the Second World War rather than Napoleon).

They also propose the notion of Rival and Nested Nationalities. Rival nationalities live among one another and compete to control the whole state.

Northern Ireland, Bosnia and Serbia, Israel and Palestine. Dangerous and fuelled by an almost singular focus on nationality by both groups in question.

A more peaceful arrangement – when nationalities are nested: two or more national identities co-exit within the framework of a single state and share a single civic identity, with these overlapping identities fitting peacefully together. Scot, English, Welsh = British. These dual identities complement and cross cut each other, instead of being exclusive. Yet nested identities are also asymmetric, since members of the minority nation are more likely to feel just one overall identity. eg the Scots may feel both British and Scottish, and thin that the two are different, but the English are likely to fin little distinction between being British and English. ( I would suggest this is more an American’s view of the British Isles as just being England).

What all this builds up to, as proposed by Yael Tamir, is:

Tamir

“ Membership in a nation is a constitutive factor of personal identity. The self-image of individuals is highly affected by the status of their national community. the ability of individuals to lead a satisfying life and to attain the respect of others is contingent on, although not assured by, the ability to view themselves as active members of a worthy community. A safe, dignified and flourishing national existence thus significantly contributes to their well-being.”

Tamir specifically notes the connection between self esteem and one’s group:

“One of the distinctive features of membership in a constitutive community is that members view their self esteem and well being a affected by the success and failures of their individual fellow members and of the group as a whole.”

Self respect is not just intrinsically valuable in the liberal state; it is also a necessary (though not sufficient) condition for people to lead a satisfying life.

My suggestion is that all of the above is revealed in the writing that we see on walls, billboards, buildings, road signs, street sign and any number of other displays of writing in the environment. It is that writing that shapes our communities more than we realise. I hope that my research will reflect that.